15 Best Places to Visit in Georgia

4. Vardzia

Cut and carved meticulously into the sandy rock faces that rise like phalanxes against the meanders of the Mtkvari River in the deep Georgian south, Vardzia remains without question one of the most dramatic sights to behold in the country. It’s estimated that the various tiers of monolith churches, caves and shrines seen here were inhabited from at least the middle of the 12th century, when the dynatstic kings of the Bagrationi are thought to have commissioned the first constructions on the sheer-cut edge of Mount Erusheti. The real must-see, however, remains the glorious Church of the Dormition; a rock-carved shrine which displays an enthralling montage of murals and iconostasis that fuse Oriental, Byzantine and Romanesque styles alike.